Canine Athletes Compete for National Titles

by Megan Arszman

The top canine athletes have converged on Harrisburg, Pa., to compete in the 2014 AKC National Agility Championships. This year 1,640 purebreds and mixed breeds representing 112 breeds and 48 states, including Canada, are competing for bragging rights as the National Champion in one of 11 jump heights.

For the first time this year, free live streaming is being offered by 4Legged Flix, and can be found on YouTube by searching “AKC Agility Nationals 2014” or http://www.youtube.com/4LeggedFlix.

Results from Thursday’s Time 2 Beat Round:

4” Preferred — Maddie, Pembroke Welsh Corgi (Becky Brinck)

8” Preferred — Tucker, Poodle (Deby Pascal)

12” Preferred — Kat, Border Collie (Loretta Vojtech)

16” Preferred — True, Labrador Retriever (Jennifer Denereaz)

20” Preferred — Tag, Golden Retriever (Terrie Everline)

8” Regular — EZ, Papilon (John York)

12” Regular — Kaemon, Shetland Sheepdog (Kory Kaye)

16” Regular — Edge, Border Collie (Pamela Fish)

20” Regular — Verve, Border Collie (Caie Williams)

24” Regular — Keen, Belgian Malinois (Julie Hill)

26” Regular — Fame, Border Collie (Jesica Ajoux)

Results from Friday’s Jumpers Round 1:

4” Preferred — Gracie, Pembroke Welsh Corgi (Jo-Ann Carleton)

8” Preferred — Sparkle, Shetland Sheepdog (Patti Gagnon)

12” Preferred — Heath , Border Collie (Terry LeClair)

16” Preferred — Zoie, Border Collie (Rose Savkov)

20” Preferred — Oliver, Border Collie (Ira Dauer)

8” Regular — EZ

12” Regular — Skecher, Shetland Sheepdog (Barbara Davis)

16” Regular — Wish, Border Collie, (Ruth Lewis)

20” Regular — Trick, Border Collie (John Nys)

24” Regular — Divot, Belgian Malinois (Sandy Dusenbery)

26” Regular — Pace, Border Collie (Desiree Snelleman)

Two more regular rounds are in order in Harrisburg: Standard and Hybrid. The top dogs in each jump height will move on to compete in the Finals, with one winner from the Challenger’s Round, which is held on Sunday.

More information can be found on AKC’s website: http://www.akc.org/events/agility/national_agility_championship/index.cfm